Trenchcoated European Spy

The title of this article is a nickname.
This article is about a canonical subject that lacks a proper name, and is known only by its nickname or callsign. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page or explanation in the article itself.

The spy also arranged to fly on the plane, and arrived before Jones wearing a trenchcoat, fedora and glasses. He was allowed onboard the plane by its steward, and looked back at Jones as he climbed aboard the vessel. Jones entered the plane shortly afterwards, and the spy, hiding behind an issue of Life magazine, watched Jones refuse a drink from the steward and then put his own fedora over his eyes, drifting to sleep for the duration of the flight. The agent likely later handed the rest of his mission over to MajorArnold Ernst Toht.[1]

The Trenchcoated European Spy, as he is named in the script, was portrayed by an uncredited Dennis Muren in Raiders of the Lost Ark. As the agent wears glasses and his face is only seen fleetingly, some have assumed he was meant to be MajorArnold Ernst Toht. However, Muren has been quoted as saying he did not stand in for Ronald Lacey, and thus did not portray Toht. The identity of the "Toht lookalike" has yet to be established.

As established from the cover art, the issue of "Life" magazine being read by this agent is the November 30, 1936 issue[2], the second issue of the magazine ever published. Various official timelines place the search for the Ark in April 1936[3] or late July 1936[4], making the agent's reading material an anachronism.[5]